Bat white-nose syndrome: an emerging fungal pathogen?
Blehert DS,
Hicks AC,
Behr M,
Meteyer CU,
Berlowski-Zier BM,
Buckles EL,
Coleman JT,
Darling SR,
Gargas A,
Niver R,
Okoniewski JC,
Rudd RJ,
Stone WB.
National Wildlife Health Center, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 6006 Schroeder Road, Madison, WI 53711, USA. dblehert@usgs.gov
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a condition associated with an unprecedented bat mortality event in the northeastern United States. Since the winter of 2006*2007, bat declines exceeding 75% have been observed at surveyed hibernacula. Affected bats often present with visually striking white fungal growth on their muzzles, ears, and/or wing membranes. Direct microscopy and culture analyses demonstrated that the skin of WNS-affected bats is colonized by a psychrophilic fungus that is phylogenetically related to Geomyces spp. but with a conidial morphology distinct from characterized members of this genus. This report characterizes the cutaneous fungal infection associated with WNS.
PMID: 18974316 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]